Majority of Voters Oppose Repealing State Nondiscrimation
Laws

WASHINGTON -- By a margin of more than two to one, a solid
majority of American voters oppose repealing state laws that protect
gays and lesbians from job discrimination, according to a bipartisan
poll released today by the Human Rights Campaign.

The survey found 59 percent of U.S. voters oppose repealing these
laws, including 35 percent who strongly oppose repealing them. Just
under one in four -- 24 percent -- favor repealing such state
laws.

Majority opposition to repealing state anti-discrimination laws
extends to every region of the country, the survey found. More than
two-thirds of Western voters (68 percent) and nearly two-thirds of
voters in the Northeast (65 percent) oppose repealing such laws,
including 44 percent in both of these regions who strongly oppose
repeal. Even a majority of Southern voters -- 51 percent -- and North
Central voters --56 percent -- oppose repealing state
anti-discrimination laws.

The Human Rights Campaign draws two clear conclusions from the
poll results, according to David M. Smith, HRC's senior
strategist.

"The first is that last month's repeal of the statewide
anti-discrimination law in Maine was a fluke caused by factors
including low voter turnout, a single-issue ballot in the middle of
winter and a disingenuous campaign by religious political
extremists," Smith said. "The second is that a plan by the Christian
Coalition to use Maine as a model to be exported to other states is
bound to fail."

The pollsters -- Celinda Lake of Lake Sosin Snell Perry &
Associates, a Democratic firm, and Linda DiVall of American
Viewpoint, a Republican company -- predict that over time, Americans'
support for non-discrimination laws is only likely to grow because
younger voters are more likely to oppose repeal than older. Among
registered voters under age 35, 70 percent oppose repeal, according
to the survey. Among voters over 35 years old, 54 percent oppose.
Younger women are most strongly opposed to repeal, with 45 percent of
women under age 40 strongly opposed.

Survey results are based on a national random sample of 1,010
American adults who were interviewed from March 4-8, 1998, including
a subset of 788 registered voters. The margin of error for the entire
sample was +/- 3.1 percent; for registered voters, it was +/- 3.5
percent.

Ten states currently include sexual orientation in their
non-discrimination laws: California, Connecticut, Hawaii,
Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Rhode Island,
Vermont and Wisconsin. Federal law and the civil rights laws of the
remaining states do not yet protect Americans from discrimination
based on sexual orientation.

The Human Rights Campaign, the largest national lesbian and gay
political organization, with members throughout the country,
effectively lobbies Congress, provides campaign support, and educates
the public to ensure that lesbian and gay Americans can be open,
honest, and safe at home, at work, and in the community.